Thursday, June 28, 2012

One of Colorado’s richest
environmental and wildlife gems, the Roan Plateau, has a new lease on life
thanks to a federal court ruling Friday setting aside a BLM plan that
would have allowed oil and gas companies to drill thousands of wells on 55,000
acres of the Roan.

The ruling, by U.S.
District Judge Marcia S. Krieger in Denver, sets aside a resource management
plan approved in 2007 during the Bush administration that would have sacrificed
for oil and gas development some of North America’s rarest plants, genetically
pure cutthroat trout, tens of thousands of acres of wilderness-quality land,
and crucial habitat for prize herds of elk and deer. BLM had acknowledged that
drilling the Roan would cause permanent and irreversible losses to native trout
populations and rare plant species, and also that wilderness-quality lands and
opportunities for backcountry recreation would be permanently destroyed.

Judge Krieger ruled that
BLM’s plan should be set aside because the agency failed to consider a more
balanced alternative that would have better protected the Roan’s wildlife,
plants and pristine lands. In addition, the Court ruled, BLM failed to take a
hard look at the air pollution that would result from drilling the Roan.

“The Roan Plateau is one
of Colorado’s richest environmental and wildlife gems,” said Earthjustice
attorney Michael Freeman. “The Court’s ruling means that the Roan will get a
second look and hopefully preserved.”

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Kevin Begos writing for the Associated Press, as reported in the Philadelphia Inquirer on June 23, describes an open legal settlement in Bradford County, Pennsylvania, involving three families who experienced contaminated water wells as a result of Marcellus drilling by Chesapeake Energy.

Jared McMicken of Wyalusing said the agreement reached Thursday provides little comfort since his drinking water was ruined by nearby drilling, and his family must move.

“We’ve lost our house, and we’re not going to get out of it what we got into it,” he said.

“We have a bunch of people who have to leave their homes,” said McMicken.
McMicken said he and the other families in the case insisted that any settlement be made public. The families settled for $1.6 million.

The families will have to give Chesapeake the properties by the end of 2012.
The arbitration trial began this week and was settled on the fourth day. Attorney Todd O’Malley said he believes this is the first case involving pollution in the Marcellus Shale region where settlement terms were publicly disclosed. Past disputes have been sealed.

A protester shows his feelings about fracking near Ardingly Reservoir, West Sussex. Photograph: Chloe Parker /Alamy

Fracking has already caused small earthquakes in the north-west, but homeowners in the vicinity of shale gas extraction could face an even worse aftershock: falling house prices.

John Johnson, manager of estate agent Farrell Heyworth in the Lancashire town of Poulton-le-Fylde, near one of the main drilling sites, says: "There are a lot of properties coming on to the market, and some of the owners are saying they want to get out before prices start dropping."

Fracking involves drilling a well hundreds of metres into the ground and pumping it full of water, sand and chemicals to fracture the rock and release methane gas. The process was halted in the UK in June 2011 after two earthquakes in two months near Blackpool followed drilling at sites in Lancashire by Cuadrilla Resources. An independent scientific report recently recommended that fracking could resume, subject to stricter controls, but fracking companies are still awaiting the results of a government review.

In the meantime Cuadrilla says it is considering where next to site its drill rig. The company, one of four with a permit to search for shale gas in Britain, has 10 sites so far, most of which are in Lancashire, but the company also has sites in Cowden in Kent, Lingfield in Surrey and has planning permission for exploratory drilling in Balcombe in West Sussex. It says it has no plans to carry out work on the southern sites at this time. Richard Sexton, a director of esurv, the UK's biggest provider of residential valuation services, said levels of public awareness about fracking are still low. He added that as awareness increased, fracking would affect house prices, "blighting properties in the areas perceived to be affected".

He believes the effect would be similar to that of the high speed rail line planned from London to Birmingham, HS2 – painful but relatively short term: "Prices have gone down 10% to 20% within a mile of the proposed route, and prices will remain depressed until the line is up and running. Reality is never quite as bad as we think it is."

Friday, June 22, 2012

In the latest state action against fracking, the New Jersey
Assembly approved a measure to ban the processing of fracking wastewater.
Environment New Jersey and its allies stepped up efforts to build support for
Assemblywoman Connie Wagner’s bill after learning that fracking waste had
already been shipped to New Jersey and discharged into the Delaware via a
DuPont facility in Salem County. Legislators approved the bill (A575) by a
veto-proof majority of 56-19.

“Toxic waste from fracking should not be allowed anywhere
near New Jersey’s waterways,” said Doug O’Malley, interim director of
Environment New Jersey. “The New Jersey Assembly chose drinking water over gas
drillers today.”

Fracking is a gas drilling technique that involves pumping a
mix of chemicals, sand and water down a well at such high pressure that it
cracks open gas-bearing rock formations. When the process is complete,
wastewater–often laced with toxics like benzene, heavy metals and even
radioactive material-flows back to the surface. Fracking wastewater has
contaminated drinking water sources on numerous occasions in other states.

The gas drilling boom in Pennsylvania has already produced
more than 1.3 billion gallons of contaminated wastewater, and drilling
operators have been increasingly sending that wastewater to surrounding states.
In New Jersey DuPont has processed the waste at a facility which discharges
into the Delaware River.

“Fracking is the latest source of toxic waste,” said
O’Malley. “That is the last thing New Jersey needs.”

Environment New Jersey cited documented cases of fracking
waste polluting water and causing other problems:

In Pennsylvania, after fracking wastewater was discharged
from sewage treatment plants into the Monongahela River, the state advised
325,000 people in and around Pittsburgh not to use their tap water for more
than a week.

In New Mexico, state records show drilling waste has
contaminated groundwater at nearly 400 different sites.

In Ohio, deep well-injection of fracking
wastewater was linked to a 4.0 level earthquake in the Youngstown area last
December

BAN IT! The liability is enormous and sadly someday, some community, somewhere, will drink the toxic kool-aid. Then what? Will we say: 'We told you so?" Who will be liable for the catastrophe? We'd bet anything that the oil and gas industry will be completely indemnified over a disaster like this.

Thursday, June 21, 2012

We are entering a new era in oil and gas development in the West, and nowhere is that more evident than along the Front Range of Colorado. Increased drilling and production near communities and populated areas — much closer to population centers than in previous decades — are raising new questions about potential impacts to water supplies, air and water quality, noise levels, and property values.

This report addresses one of the most important issues: that of water availability for new oil and gas development in Colorado. Speciﬁcally, it addresses the questions, “How much water is required for new production, and where will that water come from?” Colorado is a semi-arid state with limited water resources that must be shared by a wide variety of water users. Western Resource Advocates (WRA) — along with communities, businesses, institutions, and citizens throughout the state — have concerns about water needs for oil and gas development and how that demand impacts our water resources. This report will inform elected officials, decision makers, communities, and families about oil and gas industry water needs and the potential impacts and tradeoffs that must be addressed. It provides speciﬁc recommendations that decision makers can use in creating policies to make sure that Colorado’s water resources are properly managed along with oil and gas development.

Most of the natural gas industry has turned its back on reasonable public health and environmental protections, and government oversight and enforcement needs to rebalance the equation.

As one of America's oldest and largest environmental organizations, the Sierra Club's oil and natural gas policies have evolved as we have learned more about adverse effects on our health and environment, as science evolves, and as we identify operational failures by both the government and industry.

The harms caused by the entire process of producing oil and natural gas must end. Despite claims to the contrary, groundwater contamination caused by drilling and fracking practices is prevalent and must be brought under control.

In February, Shane Davis, the Sierra Club Rocky Mountain Chapter Oil & Gas Research Manager, announced statistics on a sampling of 1,000 spill reports from the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) website, dated after 2008. Davis stated, "We know that in Colorado, 43 percent of all spills contaminate groundwater, and 100 percent of all spills contaminate soils with toxins like deadly benzene, ethylene, toluene and xylene. There are horrific volumes of toxic and radioactive liquids that are never recovered from groundwater and soil."

Compounding the problem of spills, drilling and fracking operations are running in the heart of Colorado communities. We are alarmed that state and local governments continue to allow heavy industrial activities as close as 350 feet to occupied residences. The industry's operations are far from Best Management Practices (BMPs), due to their inherent failure rates. Overturning the numerous federal exemptions would be the first step in implementing BMPs for the oil and gas industry.

The Colorado School of Public Health states that people living within a half-mile radius from active oil and gas production suffer a greater risk for health complications and illness. If a resident complains of industrial odors to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, they often take 48 hours to respond, allowing the pollution to dissipate, eliminating the chance to properly investigate the report, and offering no answers for the homeowner. Some dangerous vapors are not even detectable by the human nose. There are no studies on the health impacts of drilling pad air toxins, and we agree with The Denver Post editorial board that comprehensive health impact studies are needed. In the meantime, Coloradans are exposed, yet unstudied, guinea pigs.

How do Colorado families protect their health and safety if an accident occurs next to their home or children's school? We believe this hazardous industrial activity must not continue to be exempt from human and environmental health protections, or allowed to operate next door to homes with growing children, elderly people, and other vulnerable populations.

The Sierra Club holds COGCC accountable in its mission, part of which states, "Responsible development results in ... the prevention and mitigation of adverse environmental impacts." COGCC can no longer be allowed to fail in this mission. The commission, the governor, and the industry should not be publicly defending the impacts of drilling that uses fracking. They should be mandating protection over profit. Every day we hear more about families being unable to drink their water due to fracking.

Colorado needs to move forward with our abundant, clean, inexpensive, healthy, jobs-generating, domestic, and renewable energy supplies. Because of the hazards created by production and consumption of coal, oil and natural gas, we need to move beyond these fuel sources as expeditiously as possible. Natural gas is a bridge fuel to further harming the planet, including our local environment and human health.

Rushing ahead to drill and burn more oil and natural gas while allowing the industry to operate in secrecy with inadequate protections will continue to harm people and wildlife, squander clean water, air and soil, and slow the development of cleaner forms of energy. We must act now for a better energy future.

Joshua Ruschhaupt is director of the Sierra Club Rocky Mountain Chapter. Other members of the Oil & Gas Team contributed to this commentary.

The volume of water required annually to develop new oil and gas wells in the state could supply up to 79,000 Colorado households for a year based on average residential use, according to a report issued Wednesday by Boulder-based Western Resource Advocates.

The report goes on to say that when re-use of water is factored in at the residential level, the amount of water used by the oil and gas industry could actually serve up to 118,400 homes in Colorado.

"Governments -- local, state and national -- really need to take a look at this and plan out drilling and make sure they do it right," said Jason Bane, spokesman for Western Resource Advocates. "We don't want to look around 10 years from now and say we shouldn't have used so much water."

But Tisha Schuller, president of the Colorado Oil and Gas Association, said the industry's water use is miniscule compared to all water consumption in the state.

The Colorado Oil and Gas Association estimates the industry will use 6.5 trillion gallons this year -- just over one-tenth of a percent of total water use in the state.

"I'm not sure it's helpful to single out our industry when there are so many users," Schuller said. "We're still just in the noise of Colorado's water use."

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

EDMONTON - The federal government has set up a counter-terrorism unit in Alberta and one of its main jobs will be to help protect the energy industry from attacks by extremists.

The integrated national security enforcement team will be led by the RCMP and include officers from CSIS, the Edmonton and Calgary police forces and federal border patrol.

Assistant Commissioner Gilles Michaud said the key to effectively guarding the labyrinth of oil and natural gas wells, pipelines and refineries in Alberta will be to gather intelligence to prevent attacks before they happen.

"When we look at the booming economy of the province of Alberta over the years, one would be led to believe that there is an increased threat to the infrastructure," Michaud said Wednesday.

"We are basically looking at any individuals or groups that pose a threat to critical infrastructure, to our economy, to our safety that is based on either religious, political or ideological goals."

There are about 400,000 kilometres of provincially regulated energy pipelines criss-crossing Alberta. That does not include federally regulated or smaller distribution pipelines.

The Energy Resources Conservation Board estimates there are 176,000 operating oil and natural gas wells dotting Alberta's landscape. There are also eight oilsands mines, five upgraders and more than 250 in situ oilsands facilities.

The 32-member Alberta team is the latest to be announced by Ottawa since the 9-11 terrorist attacks almost 11 years ago. Other teams are already operating in Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec.

We are the protectors of the environment and you coin those who oppose your energy as eco-terrorists. Shame on you @$$holes! The industry is nothing more than a group of environmental terrorists and yet the 'Energy Oligarchy' has paid you to push us around as if we were your minions. Fractivists will prevail in protecting the elements of life! This is not a threat, the oil and gas industry is the threat. The industry is polluting our way of life, stealing our lives for a dollar bill. The industry is criminally destroying our water, filling our clean air with carcinogens and killing our children.

Hey Industry: YOU ARE THE TERRORIST! YOU ARE THE 'ENVIRONMENTAL TERRORIST' AND YOU SHOULD BE ARRESTED.

Monday, June 4, 2012

Salud Family Health is taking fracking seriously, and they’re using a
new device created by Fort Collins-based Forston Labs to help them discover any
of the oil and gas industry’s impacts to patients’ drinking water.

Ed Hendrikson started the environmental health program at Salud Family
Health Centers 27 years ago, and Salud’s clinics have been testing patients’
drinking water for various contaminants ever since.

Recently, a new water quality concern has drawn Salud’s attention:
Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, the energy industry’s technique of injecting
millions of gallons of water, toxic chemicals and sand deep into the ground to
get oil and natural gas to flow to the surface.

Salud, which has a clinic in Fort Collins, is based in Fort Lupton,
near the center of Weld County’s oil and gas drilling boom. When some of
Salud’s patients saw a TV news report showing a Fort Lupton resident’s tapwater
being lit on fire, they asked Salud staff whether their water is at risk from
fracking.

“With our patient population having so much fracking around the area,
you wonder if there is contamination, will that cause some problems in our
community?” Hendrikson said.

Sunday, June 3, 2012

An oil well sits in a field south of the new Frederick High School. ( LEWIS GEYER )

FREDERICK -- As Longmont struggles over how to regulate oil and gas drilling, the nearby town of Frederick can sympathize.

Frederick, of course, sits in the southwest corner of Weld County -- or perhaps that should be "Welled County." About one-third of the state's active oil and gas wells sit in Weld, more than 17,000 at last count. Of those, 440 are in Frederick, according to town officials.

So the town's no stranger to the industry, or to attempts to deal with it. In fact, Frederick is a legal landmark in the field. Ten years ago, the town and North American Resources Co. (NARCO) were locked in a courtroom battle, waiting for Division IV of the Colorado Court of Appeals to have its say on just how far a town could

Frederick had regulations requiring each well site to be at least 350 feet from an occupied building. Division IV of the Colorado Court of Appeals judges struck down the setback regulations. ( LEWIS GEYER )

regulate a driller.

The results, to say the least, were mixed.

"The court in essence said, 'We're not going to tell you what to do. We're going to say you can do it, just not the way you have done it,'" said Cyril Vidergar, an attorney for the town.

A taxing issue

The issue really started even 10 years before that. Back in 1991, Frederick used to levy an "occupation tax" on oil and gas operators, a specific levy on anyone wanting to bring up oil and gas in the town limits. That got challenged in court and eventually settled -- but in the aftermath, state authorities made occupation taxes illegal in 1996.

Dear President Obama, We—a group of Nobel Peace Laureates— are writing today to ask you to do the right thing for our environment and r...

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